SALEM, WV - The Lady Tigers finished their home stretch tonight against the visiting Pioneers of Glenville State. Salem entered tonight's match with a record of (4-16) compared to the Pioneers record of (14-6). Salem came into the game looking to avenge their 88-94 loss on the Pioneers home court back in early December.

It was the pioneers who struck first tonight on a trip to the charity stripe for Lauren Calhoun who converted both her attempts. Salem's Cassandra Smith responded with a jumper from mid-range to tie it up and that was just the beginning for the Tiger offense. Glenville pressed up on Salem all first quarter, but the pressure did not seem to phase the Tigers on their home court. Elena Pericic went on a solo run and scored eight points straight for the Tigers in the early going to stay with Glenville's fast pace and rapid subs. After Pericic's run, the torch was passed to Emerson Wells who connected from deep twice for the Tigers to help them build a lead before the break. After one-quarter of action, the Tigers found themselves in the driver's seat up 23-17.

Carine Pinkney kept Salem's offensive success from the first quarter going with a layup of her own less than a minute into the second quarter. Glenville continued to rely on their pace of play and pension for shooting from deep to stay with the Tigers. The Pioneer press showed a little more success than it had in the first quarter, but the Tigers still were able to break it regularly and get into their half-court offense which continued to provide them with good looks both at the rim and from range. Emerson Wells continued her hot shooting drilling another pair of triples to keep the Tigers ahead. Just before the half Wells and Liliani Krause teamed up for a 5-0 run on the Pioneers to secure Salem closed the gap before the break. After one half of play, the Tigers found themselves down 40-41.

Salem quickly reclaimed the lead in the third quarter after an 11-0 run to start the half which was sparked by Elena Pericic and Cassandra Smith who nailed triples on back-to-back possessions. Smith continued to be aggressive, taking the ball to the rim whenever the opportunity arose and drawing fouls left and right. For the rest of the quarter Salem directed their offense at the rim, taking advantage of size mismatches whenever they could due to Glenville's occasional small-ball lineup. This allowed Elena Pericic, Anete Bluma, and Liliani Krause to grab board after board which helped the tigers control the glass. The Pioneers made a small run to end the quarter, but it wasn't enough to take the lead from the Tigers. Going into the fourth quarter the Tigers were on top 60-57.

Cassandra Smith continued her strong outing for the Tigers with another bucket to open the fourth quarter, this time a jump shot from mid-range to extend the Tiger lead to seven. The Pioneers responded with two of their own and Salem needed to answer. Carine Pinkney and Liliani Krause were up to the task as they both were able to get to the rim and convert their looks to tack on four more for the Tigers. Chalon Miles answered the Tiger run with a triple for the Pioneers to cut the Tiger lead down to four in crunch time. Just over halfway into the fourth quarter Salem held on to a six-point lead. With the game winding to a close the Pioneers found new signs of life. They proceeded on a 9-0 run to take a three-point lead over Salem in the game's crucial moments. Liliani Krause scored again inside for the Tigers to trim the deficit to one, but the Pioneers had an answer. They ripped off another run, this one 4-0 to balloon their lead to five with just thirty seconds left to play. As the game came to a close Carine Pinkney tried to keep the Tiger's hopes alive by scoring again and again at the rim, but the Pioneers could not miss from the free throw line, and in the end, the Tigers fell 78-82.

The Tigers will hit the road this Saturday, February 10th as their home stand came to a close tonight. They are set to face the Mountain Lions (11-9) of Concord University in Athens, West Virginia at 2:00 pm. This will be the two teams' second meeting of the season with Salem losing the prior matchup back in late November 67-75.

SALEM STAT LEADERS

Points: Emerson Wells (20)

Rebounds: Liliani Krause (8)

Assists: Cassandra Smith, Carine Pinkney (4)

Blocks: Lilani Krause, Emerson Wells (1)